“Without the actual use of color or light, the English composer Arthur Bliss wrote ‘A Colour Symphony’ having four movements. Here Bliss sought to convey the musical and emotional impression of four colors.

‘I. Purple: The Colour of Amethysts, Pageantry, Royalty and Death.

II. Red: The Colour of Rubies, Wine, Revelry, Furnaces, Courage and Magic.

III. Blue: The Colour of Sapphires, Deep Water, Skies, Loyalty, and Melancholy.

IV. Green: The Colour of Emeralds, Hope, Youth, Joy, Spring and Victory.’

The symphony was written in 1922, first presented in Gloucester Cathedral, and revised by the composer in 1932.”

—Tom Douglas Jones, from The Art of Light and Color, 1972.